Old Man's Guilt In Gran Torino

Old Man’s Guilt
People may find it difficult to interact with others due to a past filled with adversity. Because of a guilty and a harsh past, they may not feel comfortable confessing their sins; instead they may have a bitter perspective of life. This is illustrated in Clint Eastwood’s film, Gran Torino through the characterization of Walt Kowalski. Walt Kowalski is initially portrayed as a grumpy, racist old man who transforms in to a hero who sacrifices himself to bring peace to himself and his neighbour, Tao. This film demonstrates that even though people can start off with a bitter view of life due to adverse past events, they can overcome their bitterness by finding others that they can relate to and sacrificing themselves to save others. …show more content…
Initially, Walt already appears to be in misery. He seems to be uneasy at the opening scene, which is rational because he is at his wife’s funeral. However, he mostly seems uneasy and resentful towards his family. At first, the movie suggests he is unhappy because his family is anything but genuine and caring towards Walt. His son and daughter try to convince him into looking for nursing homes on his birthday, and his granddaughter is only interested in Walt’s car, the Gran Torino. Walt a Korean War Veteran is living a changing neighbourhood. He is guilty of killing thirteen Koreans, one of them was a young man trying to surrender. Because of the events that took place during the Korean War, Walt has a lot of guilt and regret. This is shown during the scene when Tao is wondering, what it is like to kill someone and Walt replies, “You don’t want to know”. Walt is not proud his actions, which is why he keeps a medal in the basement where it is not seen by others. During the end of the film, Walt finally says, “You want to know what it’s like to kill a man? Well its god damn awful that’s what it is…yeah some …show more content…
Walt is initially a deeply racist man who calls Tao “zipperhead” and assumes that Hmongs “eat dogs”. His attitude towards Hmong’s starts to change after he saves Sue from the three gangbangers. While they are in Walt’s truck. Sue discusses the reason why the Hmongs moved to America. She also says that Hmong’s fought with the United States. Walt is starting to realize that Hmongs are not that bad. A little bit later on the film, the Hmong gangbangers try to take Tao away and covert him into one of them but Walt saves Tao`s life by scaring away the gangbangers. Walt does not care for Tao yet, he only saved Tao because the gangbangers were on Walt`s lawn and he wanted them off it. Due to Walt`s actions Tao`s family shows gratitude and showers Walt with food and gifts. Sue considers Walt as a friend because he saved her and her brother Tao. Walt is still very bitter towards Sue and the rest of the Hmong people. Sue invites Walt to the barbecue but Walt is not looking forward to it. When walt arrives and starts to interact with others, he realizes that he has “more in common with the Hmongs then his own family”. Walt’s perspective begins to change as Sue introduces him to her family. As the film progress Walt starts to feel more comfortable around Sure and the others. Tao’s family forcefully volunteer Tao to work for Walt because Tao had tried to steal Walt’s Gran